Tobacco container



` Oct. 12, 1937. s C, BAUGHN 2,095,905

TOBACCO CONTAINER l Filed March 2, 1936 frm Z3 S'mnuel 25mg/1re Patented Oct. 12, ld'

UNiTEii STATES 2,095,905 1 TOBACCO CONTAINER Samuel C. Baughn, East St. Louis,` Ill., assigner lill.

ci one-half to John F. Wessel, East. St.` Louis,

Application March 2, 1936, Serial. No. 66,771

2 Claims. (Cl. 20G- 38) The device forming the subject matter of this application is` a combined container for matches, cigarette paper, and tobacco. The word tobacco is to be construed to mean looseV leaf or 5. out plug, cigars, cigarettes or anything else that is smoked, either as an article ready for smoking as manufacturedl or after some operation by a smoker, Vsuch as making a cigarette or filling a pipe.

The container comprises a body and a hinged lid. One obiect of the invention is to provide novel means mounting the lid hingedly on the body and to provide a novel spring means for opening the lid, when the lidis released from the "i body. Another object vof the invention is to improve the construction oi the cigarette paper licider and its mountin A further object of the invention is to improve the match holder and its mounting. Yet another object of the invention is 2o so to construct the device that when the cigarette paper holder is opened, whilst the device is held in the human hand, the hand will tend te keep the match holder closed,` rather than to'permit an opening ci the match holder. Y

it is within the province of the disclosureto improve generally and to enhance the utility of i devices of that type to which the invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in View,

301` which will appear as the description proceeds, the

invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise em- 35i bodiment oi the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

, In the accompanying drawing: l

40i Fig. 1 is a perspective View showing a device constructed inaccordance with the invention,

the cigarette paper holder being opened;

Fig. 2- is a vertical longitudinal section;

Fig. 3 is a Vertical longitudinal section at right angles to Fig. 2;

Figs. e, 5, and 6 are transverse sections, taken respectively on the lines 4 4, 5 5, and 6--6 of Fig. 2.

The container forming the subject matter of this application preferably is made of metal and comprises a tubular body B, which is of elongated cross section, so that it can be carried conveniently in the pocket. The body B has a flat front wall I, a fiat rear wall 2 and outwardly convexed edge 55 Walls 3.

The rear wall 2 is cut away as at It, the upper edge of the rear wall. being somewhat lower than the upper edges of the` walls 3 and the front wall I. The constituent material oi the rear wall 2 is not entirely removed by the cutting away indicated at ll. Part of the material that is left is rolled to form a first tubular anchorage socket 5, inclined slightly toward the adjacent end of the body B, as shownin Fig. 3, and located near to one of the Yedge walls 3. Another part of the material that is left is rolled to form a second tubular "anchorage socket t, disposed approximately parallel to the adjacent end of the body B and located near to the other edge wall 3. A third part of the material that is left is rolled to form a hinge socket'i, disposed between the anchorage sockets 5 and 5, but spaced therefrom, transversely of the body B. The front wall I and the edge walls 3 are provided with anout-struck bead disposed parallel to the upper end of the body B and forming an internal seat 9 in the body; As shown at It, the bead 8 is continued a little way inwardly upon the rear wall 2, chiefly to reenforce the wall 2 and to give it a good appearance, as Fig. 1' will disclose.

A lid IIis provided and includes a depending flange I2, which has a frictonal nt about the upper end of the body B, to hold the lid releasably closed. The iront part oi the ange i2 is provided with a finger-piece i4, to aid the operator in opening thelid. Theback part of the ange l2 is provided with hinge sockets i5, located on opposite sides of the hinge socket 'l of the body B. In order to accommodate the hinge pintle I8, hereinafter described, and to finish off the appearance of the body, therear wall 2 (Fig. 1) may be dented outwardly as at i5, at the ends of the sockets I5.

One end I1 of a hinge pintle i8 (Fig. 3) is engaged in one of the offsets I6 on the rear wall 2. Thence, the hinge pintle I8 passes through one hinge socket I5 on the flange i2 of the lid il, through the hinge socket 'I on the rear wall 2 of the body, through the other hinge socket I5 of the lid, through theV anchorage Vsocket 6 of the body and along the other oiiset it, the hinge pintle I8 being continued around the inside of the body, in Ythe internal seat 3 formed by the bead 8. The hinge pintle I8 passes out oi the seat 9 and through the anchorage socket 5 on the rear wall 2 of the body. Inwardly of the socket 5, the hinge pintle I8 merges into a resilient arm I9, slanting upwardly toward the lid i i (Fig. 3), and away from the flange I2 of the lid (Fig. 4), the arm terminating in an outwardly extended and angularly disposed finger 20, bearing on the flange I2 of the lid II, in spaced relation to the hinged mounting of the lid, the hinged mounting of the lid being indicated sufiiciently for the purposes of the present discussion by the socket 1 on the wall 2 of the body B. The arm I9 and the finger serve to swing the lid II to open position, so soon as the operator swings the lid by means of the finger piece I4 enough to release the friction grip of the flange I2 of the lid on the upper end of the body B.

The bottom 2I of the body B may be held in place in any suitable way. For instance, it may have an inverted U-shaped ange 22 in which the lower end of the body B is secured. The (space between the bottom 2I and the lid II forms a compartment for tobacco.

The holder for the cigarette papers is in the form of a shallow box-like case 23, the side of the case which is next to the wal1'2 of the body B being open. An offset rod 24 extends across the inside of the case 23 and hasV its ends mounted in the side anges of the case, the function of the rod 24 being to hold the cigarette papers 25 in the case 23, when the case 23 is swung to open position asin Figs. 1 and 2.

Eyes 26 are struck from the rear wall 2 of the body B. In the eyes 26, a hinge pintle 2'I is mounted. The hinge pintle 21 has offset seats 28, engaging and receiving the eyes 26, as shown in Fig. 5, the construction being such that the hinge pintle cannot slide out endwise. The ends of the hinge pintle 21 are mounted in the side iianges of the cigarette paper case 23, near to the lower end Aof the case. The construction is such that the case 23 is hingedly mounted, it being possible to open the case 23, away from the wall 2 of the body B, into the position of Fig. 1, or into the dotted line position of Fig. 2, to the end that the cigarette papers 25 may be removed from the case.

A means is provided for holding the case 23 normally closed against the wall 2. This means embodies a coiled spring 29, disposed about the hinge pintle 2'I, between the seats 28, one end 30 of the spring 29 being engaged in one of the openings in the wall 2, resulting when the corresponding one of the eyes 26 is struck out. The spring 29 has an arm 3|, extended lengthwise of the case 23, and engaged through an opening in the outer wall of the case 23. An outwardly inclined lever or handle 32 is secured to the lower end wall of the case 23. By pressing on the lever or handle 32, the case 23 may be moved to the open position shown in dotted line in Fig. 2, against the action of the closing spring 29.

The numeral 33 marks a match receptacle. The bottom of the match receptacle is shown at 34 and may be connected to the receptacle by means of a U-shaped bead 35, receiving the lower end of the match receptacle 33 and secured thereto. A portion of the bottom 2l of the main receptacle B'is supplied on its outer surface with a roughened area constituting a match scratcher 36. The upper end of the match receptacle 33 is reduced as shown at 3'1 in Fig. 2, to t within the flange 22 of the bottom 2I of the body. By any suitable means shown at 38, the upper edge of the match receptacle 33 is hingedly connected to the lower end of the wall I of the body B. At its upper, hinged end, the match receptacle 33 has an inwardly projecting tongue 39. A hookshaped spring 40 is secured to the bottom 2| of the body B. When the match receptacle 33 is swung to the open position of Fig. 2 (dotted line), the tongue 39 engages the spring 40 and exes the spring outwardly, the spring, therefore, having a tendency to close the match receptacle 33 toward the solid line position of Fig. 2. When the match receptacle 33 is in the closed position shown in solid line in Fig. 2, the tongue 39 bears frictionally against the shank of the spring 40, and the spring, therefore, has a tendency to hold the match receptacle 33 closed.

The general utility of the device is obvious. Tobacco may be carried in the body B, cigarette papers are carried in the case 23, and matches are carried in the receptacle 33.

An important feature of the invention remains to be discussed. It is to be observed that the match receptacle 33 is hinged to the body B at the opposite side of the body from the case 23. Therefore, when the device is held in the human hand, as in Fig. 1, and when the thumb of the hand is placed in engagement with the handle or lever 32 on the case 23, to open the ca-se, the natural tendency of lthe thumb, when pressed on the lever or handle 32, is to force the human finger 4I of Fig. 1 upwardly, thereby tending to keep the match receptacle 33 closed.

The device is simple in construction, but affords a means whereby a smoker can carry his tobacco, and the appurtenances which commonly are employed in connection with smoking.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, a body, a shallow box-like cigarette paper holder having an open side disposed toward the body, means for hingedly mounting one end 0f the cigarette paper holder on the body, spring means for closing the holder against the body, and an outwardly extended finger piece on the lower end of the holder, the finger piece constituting means for opening the holder, with respect to the body, against the action of the spring means.

2. In a device of the class described, a body including a bottom, a match receptacle hinged to the lower end of the body and provided with an inwardly projecting tongue, a hook-shaped spring secured to the bottom of the match receptacle and comprising a shank and a curvedflbill, the tongue engaging the bill of the spring, to flex the spring when the match receptacle is opened, the spring then constituting a means for moving the match receptacle toward closed position, the tongue having a frictional hold on the shank oi Vthe spring, when the match receptacle is closed,

to aid in holding the match receptacle closed.

SAMUEL C. BAUGHN. 

